Saturday, August 13, 2011

Rudesheim

You'll need Google Maps to find this village north of Mainz. We stopped here at 12:30 after an early lunch and a cruise through the story-book Rhine Gorge (a castle on every other hill). A small train was laid on to take us to the center of town for a visit to the Mechanical Musical Instrument Museum. Along with the usual music boxes and player pianos (even a player Grand Piano) were what could only be called mechanical orchestras and an incredible piano that accompanied itself with six self-playing violins. A real mechanical tour de force.

This was followed by a wine-tasting of the local Riesling wines, a little shopping and a slow walk back to the ship.

We passed the famous Lorelei Rock in the morning and to my chagrin I didn't even see the statue of the legendary siren. I'll ask around amongst the other passengers and see if I can scrounge a photo.

The other passengers, by the way, are mostly Australian with only a light sprinkling of New Zealanders, Brits and six Canadians. Apparently the cruise is very popular in Oz.

Rhine castle

The Lorelei Rock at the deepest, narrowest, fastest part of the Rhine

You can rent this castle for your wedding and even spend your honeymoon there!